The state Health Care Authority has begun the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) application process for hospitals other than those participating in the certified public expenditures (CPE) program. To ensure consideration for SFY 2019 DSH funding, hospitals must submit an initial application to HCA no later than August 1, 2018. The initial application must include at a minimum, completion of Section 1 of the application. HCA will notify hospitals of missing items or information. Hospitals must submit all remaining information by October 31, 2018 to be eligible for DSH funding. CPE hospitals have a separate application process.
Click here for the non-CPE DSH application.
WSHA informed HCA of our concerns that the new application instructions for reporting payment from the Safety Net Assessment program may overstate Medicaid payments since they do not consider the assessments paid by hospitals. If this is not properly addressed, this could impact hospitals’ DSH eligibility and payment amounts. We are working with HCA to have this issue clarified before the final October application submission date. In the meantime, WSHA strongly urges hospitals to submit initial applications prior to August 1 to ensure consideration of their application.
The application and related documents should be sent to HCA at hcadshadmin@hca.wa.gov.
If your hospital is not receiving direct communication regarding the DSH application process, or if you have questions regarding the process, please contact Mary O’Hare, HCA DSH program manager at (360) 725-9820 or mary.ohare@hca.wa.gov. (Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org)